The Finnish professional ice hockey team Jokerit, which plays in the Russian-dominated Continental Hockey League (KHL), did not arrive in Belarus as scheduled on Thursday.
The team scheduled to play in opposition to Dinamo Minsk, but criticized for the planned adjustment amid the violent suppression of anti-government protests in the city and the coronavirus pandemic.
On Wednesday, a fan club announced a boycott of the team’s fites if the attack occurred.Minsk has been the scene of mass protests and police brutality since the 9 August presidential elections that were widely condemned as fraudulent.
Team members planned to fly from Helsinki Airport at 1 p.m.on Thursday, but appeared for the charter flight, according to an Iltalehti reporter at the airport.
Finnair showed Yle that the flight had taken off.
According to Flight Radar’s tracking website, Jokerit’s upcoming charter flight is scheduled to take off Friday in Riga, Latvia, where they will face a team, also known as Dinamo.
Helsinki and Riga are the EU cities represented in the league.The five KhL groups are Russian, as well as one from Belarus, China, Finland, Latvia and Kazakhstan.
The resolution to move Jokerit to the Eastern League was made in 2013 through Hjallis Harkimo, then owner.Since then, he has sold his percentage of the team and elected Parliament, representing his own Liike Nyt (Movement Now).